How Did Ww2 Affect North American Economy

Many argue that women’s status in American society was improved during the Second World War through their contributions to the North American economy. During the Second World War women were “allowed” to do the jobs that were originally meant for men. However after the war ended they went back to their roles as housewives, gender roles were expected to return to the way they were once the war ended. The changes did not really begin to take place in gender equality until the 50’s and 60’s but this was due to the younger generation, the ones who were daughters of the women who took men’s jobs during the war. The women who worked in ww2 did not liberate women or being a feminist movement. These women made sure to keep their femininity, held onto
Women were reminded that they were not to fill these jobs permanently but only for the time being until the men came back home. Men did not want women “to cheapen the industry or to take the jobs of the men for the whole of the future”. In 1944 a Labour Department survey illustrated that only 28% of women wanted to leave their jobs and return to the household after the war. Few Women worked after WW2 but many didn’t, those that stayed in the work force were paid significantly less then men even when they were doing the same job. Many of the women who went back to the household chose that because they did not want the jobs that were available to them. After the Second World War in 1946 all three women’s services in the armed forces were disbanded and domestic service occupations for women rose up after the war. Secretary, bookkeeper and other domestic type occupations were the sort of jobs that had became available for women. Women also did not want to work the typical 9-5 workday and they did not want to separate their work life and home life from each other as each job wanted to strictly separate. Women wanted a better life than what they had known for themselves and for their family but that would mean that they would need more than just their husband’s salary to afford the luxuries they craved.
The Second World War ended in September of 1945 while women’s rights did not begin to significantly improve until the late 60’s. Unfortunately women were not liberated right after the Second World War. The saying, “two steps forward and one step back”, is a great way to summarize what was achieved after the Second World War for women’s rights. The work that women did in the Second World War did not greatly impact or start a movement in women’s rights, thought it did allow women to show that they are able to do a man’s job but after the war traditional post-war gender roles strengthened as women and men returned to the nuclear family. After the Second World War there was slow movement in woman’s suffrage during the 40’s but the movement subsided and was put on the back burner once the American Civil War began on April 12th 1861. During this time women were busy aiding in the conflicts between the states. Four years later on April 9th 1865 the Civil war ended and Women’s rights had another set back. The 15th amendment came into play this gave black men the right to vote but failed to extend that right to any women no matter the colour. Women’s rights finally began to pick up some momentum when the National Women’s Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed in 1869. That same year the American Woman Suffrage